Now! Then! James Montgomery, editor of the Sheffield Iris, explains newspaper economics to a new Mancunian proprietor

4 September 1804: James Montgomery, editor of the Sheffield Iris, explains newspaper economics to a new Mancunian proprietor

James Montgomery. 1855. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of James Montgomery, Vol. 2. Ed. John Holland and James Everett. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Get it:

Excerpt

I am curious to know in what character you intend to appear. Will you rank among the gods as a Mercury, or among men as a Herald? Will you assume the shape of a sun, a star, or a broomstick? But now to business and your hard questions. I pay 58s. 6d. for the paper of 1,000 stamps [newspaper tax], such as I use; the duty amounts to 12l. 2s. 6d., and the expense of postage may amount to about 1s.; the carriage by wagon to Sheffield amounts to about 3s. 9d. The whole expense of a thousand stamps delivered in my office is 15l. 5s. 9d.; and the amount of the same when printed, at 6d. each, 25l. I think a penny a paper completely covers all my expenses of delivery and loss by bad debts. The delivery of one part of my impression costs me nothing, as many papers are sold in the shop of the Misses Gales and by my apprentices in the town; for another part I pay a newsman in the town and immediate neighbourhood a halfpenny a paper; and to another, who delivers them in the villages within four or five miles a penny each. This latter is too high, but the man is an old servant, the bargain was inconsiderately made, and I am determined not to break it without a better reason than because it is a bad one. To the booksellers in other towns I allow 2s. 6d. for fifty papers. I send no newsmen above four or five miles off, as our neighbourhood is thinly peopled; and when this was formerly done, the horses ate off their heads and tails, and the men devoured through the very stamps themselves. The paper you propose to print upon may cost 8s. or 10s., a thousand more than mine. There is a type foundry in Glasgow, where for plain fonts you may be served at prices 20% lower than in London. Taylor and Newton must be written to, soliciting their recommendation to advertisers. You charge them according to your regular scale, and allow them 5% commission. I receive daily two London newspapers, which I pay for and exchange with about eight or nine country printers. I allow booksellers and newsmen sixpence each on advertisements which they send or bring, and are accountable for.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

Op cit:

He adds, in the next letter:-
“I give one man in my office 23s. per week, the others 20s.; and my pressman, who is a very poor hand, only 16s. I believe Mr. Sheardown, of Doncaster, may give a little, but very little, more. At Wakefield and Leeds the wages are nearly the same. I give 4½d. a thousand for piecework; but as there is seldom occasion for overwork, I generally pay the compositors 6d. per hour for any time above the regular day’s work. At Leeds and York, I believe, they only allow 4d. per thousand. I am sorry to hear of the mutinous spirit among the Manchester printers; I fear the infection will spread.”

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Original

The following letter, relating as it does to temporary business matters, is given, under an impression that the items of cost which it contains may be a little curious as compared with similar heads of outlay in the present altered scale of newspaper expenses: Aston had just commenced publishing the “Manchester Exchange Herald.”
James Montgomery to Joseph Aston.
“MY DEAR FRIEND,
“Sheffield, Sept. 4. 1804.
“… So you are my brother now, as well as my friend, and I congratulate both you and myself on our new typographical relationship: it offers a prospect of more frequent communication; we may meet each other in print every week! I am curious to know in what character you intend to appear. Will you rank among the gods as a Mercury, or among men as a Herald? Will you assume the shape of a sun, a star, or a broomstick? No matter; come in what form or person you may, my friend Joseph Aston will always be welcome. But now to business and your hard questions. I pay 58s. 6d. for the paper of 1000 stamps, such as I use; the duty on 1000, deducting the discount, amounts to 12l. 2s. 6d., and the expense of postage (which I pay, remitting due bills, or paying the discount, if not due within a week) may amount to about 1s. per thousand more; the carriage by waggon to Sheffield amounts to about 3s. 9d. a thousand: the whole expense of a thousand stamps delivered in my office at these rates, is 15l. 5s. 9d.; and the amount of the same when printed, at 6d. each, 25l. I think a penny a paper completely covers all my expenses of delivery and loss by bad debts, except when I am careless, and deserve to suffer for my indolence and inattention. The delivery of one part of my impression (which is not very large) costs me nothing, as many papers are sold in the shop [of the Misses Gales] and by my apprentices in the town; for another part I pay a newsman in the town and immediate neighbourhood a halfpenny a paper; and to another, who delivers them in the villages adjacent, within four or five miles, a penny each. This latter expense is too high; but the man is an old servant; the bargain was inconsiderately made, and I am determined not to break it without a better reason than because it is a bad one. To the booksellers in other towns who sell the ‘Iris’ (all at their own risk entirely, for I send not a paper on trial) I allow 2s. 6d. for fifty papers. This is very moderate; but many printers allow only a halfpenny a paper. I send no newsmen above four or five miles off, as our neighbourhood is thinly peopled; and when this was formerly done, the horses ate off their heads and tails, and the men devoured through the very stamps themselves. It was a most unprofitable business, and, what is very wonderful, I had the wit to find it out, and the wisdom to discontinue it. You will be placed in a different, and I hope more fortunate, situation. I was going to say something very fine just here, but the length of my task, and the brevity of my paper deterred me, though I could have said it in half the room I have occupied in saying that I would not say it. I would recommend the house of Jones and Leventhorpe to supply you with stamps. You must write, enclosing a bill due, or nearly so, to the amount, or thereabouts, of the quantity of paper and stamps that you choose to order at once: they will send the paper to the stamp office, pay for the stamping, and, in three days from the receipt of your letter, will send off the quantity by any conveyance you appoint. The paper you propose to print upon may cost 8s. or 10s, a thousand more than mine, -or perhaps more still, for I cannot state the price, never using any of the size. The house which I have named, I am sure will serve you as well and as low as any in London; but you must be rigidly exact in requiring them punctually and expeditiously to forward the stamps, for which you must bind them to time-by threats and promises, if necessary: -you know what I mean. You may mention my name to them in any manner you please; and when I have your authority, I will mention yours to them in such a manner as I shall think proper. Command me freely, and command me fully, in this and in every other respect wherein I can serve you. There is a type foundry in Glasgow, where, for plain founts, you may be served, as well at least (but I think much better) at prices 20 per cent. lower than in London -Alexander Wilson and Sons.’ Taylor and Newton must be written to, soliciting their recommendation to advertisers. They send advertisements, in a great measure, to whom they please; you charge them according to your regular scale, and allow them 5 per cent. commission; and you send a paper, gratis, weekly, to be filed by them. This is very reasonable. Respecting the purchase and exchange of newspapers, you must do as well as you can. I receive daily two London newspapers, which I pay for, and exchange with about eight or nine country printers. I allow booksellers and newsmen sixpence each on advertisements which they send or bring, and are accountable for. I think I have answered most of your questions: ask again whenever you have occasion. You do not know the author of the lines on Faith [in the ‘Iris ‘], for I am not sure that I do. I am in the press in the shape of a foolscap octavo; but I have stuck fast ever since last October; for I never work for myself when I can find a better master, and more profitable employment than printing miscellaneous poetry.
“Your friend,
“J. MONTGOMERY.
“Mr. Joseph Aston, Manchester.”

1033 words.